Ashley was watching Gabriella and Catherine talk about Ben and they obviously loved him. But Tina said he loved her and Trish. She was so confused. “Are you… in love with Ben?” she finally asked.
Both women immediately said ‘Yes.’ then laughed. Gabriella explained. “Ben had a very rough time growing up and we haven’t heard the full story yet. There are some dark hidden events in his past. When he moved into the neighborhood he got married and when they found out they couldn’t have kids his wife, who was sterile, she left him for another man. That emotionally knocked Ben off his moorings. He was in pretty rough shape. He drank a lot.” She saw Ashley stiffen. “But he was just a sad drunk. Not violent in any way.” Ashley relaxed and Gabriella continued.
“One day a man drove into the neighborhood and tried to abduct Miriam. He got her into the back of his van and was about to escape when Ben got to him. Ben wasn’t at his best but he managed to pull the man from his van and beat him against the side of it. In desperation the man shot Ben three times in the torso but Ben just knocked the gun away. I managed to get Miriam out of the back of the van by that point. She was traumatized and wailing in my arms. Ben looked at me and I looked at him. I saw the rage in his eyes and I knew he could feel my terror at almost losing my daughter. He lifted that monster in the air and snapped his neck like a twig. Then the police tackled him and he passed out from blood loss. They rushed him to the hospital and managed to save him but he fell into a coma.” Gabriella took a deep breath and saw she had Ashley’s rapt attention.
“I was at a particularly low point in my marriage at that time. And Ben had just killed a monster who was trying to steal my daughter. I knew he did it for me and Miriam and I fell for him hard. I went to the hospital as often as I could and I took care of his house. My husband was annoyed by how much time I was spending on Ben but outside of that he didn’t care. Ben was in the coma for four months and it took eight months of physiotherapy before he got to go home. I brought him home but I never told him I was in love with him. He was still mourning the loss of his marriage. His self-worth had taken an almost fatal blow when that woman left him. I secretly loved Ben for years as my husband just grew more distant. Catherine was also in love with Ben and at first I was threatened by that. I didn’t understand Ben well enough and I didn’t understand the truth about love. Ben is capable of loving completely. Whatever damage was done to his psyche during those rough years of his youth somehow it failed to diminish his incredible capacity to love. He loves me. I know he also loves Catherine and Tina… and Trish though she’s a little sensitive about that. Once I was able to accept that his love for them didn’t diminish his love for me in any way I was able to open my heart to him as he’d opened his to me. I love Catherine like my best friend and a sister combined. I would never deny her Ben’s love and there’s truly no reason to. Please understand. Ben isn’t trying to get as many women in his bed as he can. He’s actually very shy and uncomfortable with people noticing his looks and coming on to him. He’s not a flirt, or a player, or any of those things. He’s just a nice man… who happens to also be gorgeous, brilliant, strong, sensitive, generous to a fault, and great listener.”
“Don’t forget he has an amazing body and the libido of a teenager!” Catherine grinned.
Ashley blushed.
Gabriella scowled at Cat. “Yes, well, the most important thing to take away from this conversation is that you are surrounded by people who care. That event six months ago may have been horrible and life altering but from it we’ve forged a new community comprised of people you can turn to no matter what. No judgement, just help. Catherine, Ben, Tina, Daphne, Trish, Rochelle, and myself. Any of us will be there for you. You just have to ask. Ok?” she looked into Ashley’s eyes seeing the message was getting through. She’d planted the seed. Hopefully, should an episode of abuse arise she’d recall Gabriella’s words. She smiled at the woman.
“Anyone for coffee or dessert?”
Ben had a poor night’s sleep. He put it down to sleeping alone for the first time in a while. He’d begun to get used to having someone, typically Tina, in his bed.
He used the gym and got ready the day. He went down to the restaurant and saw Bill sitting at a table by the window.
“Good morning Bill!”
“Good morning Ben! Sleep well?” the man asked.
“Well enough I suppose. I prefer my bed.” Ben replied.
“Do you travel much?” Bill asked.
“Actually, this is the furthest from home I’ve been.” he said honestly.
“I’ve travelled to Las Vegas once for a trade show but that’s it. I prefer the comforts of home and the missus prefers me home as well.” Bill admitted. “I don’t like being away from my kids. Do you have a missus and kids?”
Ben smiled and shook his head then paused and smiled more broadly. Bill’s eyes twinked. “What’s that smile mean?”
“I was married once but it didn’t work out. We didn’t have kids. But I’m living with a woman right now who has a one year old. It’s… it’s nice to hear him call me dada.” Ben said with a guilty smile.
Bill’s grin cranked up as Ben shared his happy secret. He knew Ben was good people.
The waitress arrived and took their order. She promised it would be right out.
“So I told you I’d take you to see the old man this morning but he called me last night to say that I wasn’t to schedule anything for him until the evening as he had to fly to Las Vegas on family business.” The man explained with a grimace. It looked like he had a bad taste in his mouth.
“Oh! Has there been some tragedy?” Ben asked, concerned.
“What? Oh! No, nothing like that.” Bill said then frowned. Obviously there was something bothering the man and he wanted to talk about it but something was holding him back.
“What’s on your mind?” Ben said in a deep casual tone, using the old bartender trick to start a conversation. He kept his expression neutral as well.
Bill needed to talk with someone about this. As a senior level manager he had no one to vent with and know it wouldn’t get back to his boss. Ben was a good listener and Bill somehow knew he could trust his discretion. “The old man… he’s great with us. I mean sure he’s a tough old bird who doesn’t give an inch but he’s fair and generous enough. Working at Sturn has been really great for me and the team but a while back we almost all quit. The old man has one blind spot and that’s his boy Ray. In high school the kid was some kinda football quarterback prodigy and he got picked up on a football scholarship in University. Something bad happened involving a party, too much alcohol and a girl. The next game none of the defence would protect him and Ray got injured, pretty bad. Some say it was retaliation for what he’d done to the girl. He dropped out of University and his dad brought him into the company. He tried grooming Ray for management, to take over the company when he passed on but Ray developed a bad temper and a cruel streak. We lost more female employees during those years than we ever had before. Company parties were the worst as he got mean when he drank.”
The waitress arrived with their food and they ate in silence for a few minute. Ben didn’t press him to continue but remained receptive if and when he decided to start again. He liked Bill. He seemed like a recent decent man and this was really eating at him. Bill set down his fork as he was ready to continue.
“Finally someone talked to the old man and he seemed to get control over his son. Things got better for a while and a woman took interest in him which seemed to calm him down a little more. When the first baby was announced Ray seemed to be growing up. The second one followed a year later and we had almost forgotten he’d been such a headcase before. Then we had a Christmas party and Ray got to drinking and took a fancy to one of the secretaries. A married one. The husband took offense and ended up in the hospital when he got the shit kicked out of him in the parking lot.
We knew who did it but couldn’t prove it and the old man only saw his dutiful son with grandkids. Ray started acting up again and I think his wife bore the brunt of it. He was a cruel bastard. He made life miserable as work as well. It took an organized protest from the entire engineering department to get the old man to listen but all he did was transfer Ray to the Houston office. About three years ago Ray’s wife died. Overdose. He’d isolated her so none of her friends had known what kind of pressure she’d been under. I feel bad for his kids. Not a year later he started dating a poor young blond from the Houston office secretarial pool. It wasn’t too long before he knocked her up. The old man threatened to fire him if he didn’t marry the girl but I’m not sure if that was a favor.”
Bill leaned in so Ben did as well.
“Something bad happened in the Houston office. Something no one will talk about but the old man had to move Ray and his family once more. Now I got word that Ray got into a drunken altercation with a prostitute in Las Vegas. She’s in bad shape. The old man flew over to bail him out, again.”